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Building Political Power

Our civic engagement program is built on the belief that by organizing their members as voters underserved and marginalized communities can move from being legislated about to becoming equal partners and leaders in governing and community structures.

Decisions made at the U.S. Capitol, state houses
and city halls are increasingly beholden to the influence of corporations and
special interest groups that are focused more on profits than on people. Our
communities pay the price through the impacts these decisions have on our
lives.

From 2003 to 2013, Western States Center’s VOTE program elevated the power of community-based organizations to ensure that people’s voices are heard loud and clear. We
increased the ability of 24 organizations to sharpen their political insight,
to mobilize and organize their community members, and to catalyze collaboration
among organizations and communities. We are integrating the lessons and
strategies from VOTE into our RACE and Gender Justice programs.

We also continue to use a movement building approach to
electoral organizing by supporting grassroots organizations in ballot
initiative issues. We assist groups in deepening their community members’
understanding of how the issues they care about are affected at the ballot box.
Our strategy is not just about turning out votes on Election Day, but also
ensuring that people engage with their lawmakers and public officials
throughout the year.

VOTE (Voter Organizing Training and Empowerment) is the centerpiece of our Building Political Power program. Through VOTE we provide training, financial support and technical assistance to build the capacity of community-based organizations.

Measure 88 is a common sense measure to keep our roads and communities safe. Voting YES allows the DMV to issue “driver cards” to Oregon residents who are not eligible for a traditional driver’s license because they are unable to provide adequate proof of citizenship.

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The We Are BRAVE Toolkit is designed, in collaboration with my organizers and grassroots groups, to guide facilitators and trainers to carry forward BRAVE reproductive justice conversations

The Reproductive Justice Timeline is one of 15 modules featured in the We Are BRAVE toolkit. This exercise helps to build a shared understanding of reproductive oppression and reproductive justice in the United States.